Ice-velocipede



'(No Model.) y

E. P. BATCHBLDER.

N. PEIERS Prwmummpher. washinginn. n. (L

UNITED STATES "PATENT Orricn.

EDWIN F. BATOHELDER, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ICE-VELOCIPEDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 369,224, dated August30, 1887.

Application lcd May 25, 1887. Serial No. 239,346. (No model.)

To all wwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN F. BATOHELDER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Goncord, in the county of Merrimac and State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIce-Velocipedes, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to the construction of velocipedes designed to beused on ice or snow, having means for propelling and guiding somewhatYin the ,same manner as an ordinary bicycle; and to these ends theinvention consists, essentially, in providing the extremities of thefront forks and backbone of an ordinary bicycle-frame with runners, thefront forks being extended for the purpose.

It also consists in mounting a propeller wheel between the front forks;and my invention relates more particularly to shielding this wheel andbracing the forks with the runners in such a manner as to give strengthand stability to the structure.

Two other important features of the invention are the manner of mountingthe propellerwheel and means for limiting the swinging movement of theback runner.

In. order that my invention may be more fully understood, I will proceedto describe it with reference to the accompanying drawing, whichrepresents a perspective view of my machine.

1, 2, 3, 4., 5, 6, and 7 represent, respectively, the front forks,backbone, rear fork, head,

handles, seat, and step of an ordinary bicycle,

which, being of ordinary construction and all well known, need nospecific description.

A is the propeller-wheel, having hub A', spokes a', and teeth orprojections a, the rim being designated by A.

B is the shield for said propeller-wheel, having secured to itsextremities the runners B B,'on opposite sides of the wheel A, theserunners beingriveted to enlargements 1" at lower ends of the front fork.

C is the rear runner, carried by the prongs C', pivoted at c', andhaving vertical extension c, for limiting its rocking movement.

The spokes a of the wheel are screwed into the hub andriveted to the rimalternately on opposite sides thereof, and the teeth a are triangular inshape, and also riveted alternately on opposite sides of the rim. Theseteeth or projections are well adapted to engage the surface of the iceor snow, and are made thin, though thick enough for strength, to preventany sidewise movement or slipping of the ma# chine. The wheel is drivenby ordinary cranks, to be operated by the feet of the rider.

In order to insure uninterrupted contact between the teeth of the wheeland the surface of the ice, and also to prevent the weight of themachine being borne by the wheel, and consequently taken off therunners-as, fo'r example, when the machine passes over some unevennessin the surface-I provide a vertically-movable bearing for the wheel,which consists, essentially, of a block, E, mounted on two verticalrods, E E E E', whose extremities are secured in enlargements 1a in thetwo parts of the fork, and on which the journal-block may freely slide.By this arrangement the wheel will be held in contact with the surfacemerely by its own weight and the pressure put upon it by the rider.

The shield is supported on the frame by passing the head or `joint ofthe forks through r a hole made therein. The extremities of thisshieldare bent down and riveted or otherwise secured to the meetingadjacent ends of the two front runners, which are brought together insuch a manner that they spread the desired distance apart on the ground,being secured in this position by the braces E. These braces E areformed of rods so bent as to extend downward from the forks at an angle,their extremities being secured by nuts to the extremities of thevertical slide-rods of the movable bearing. This arrangement, it will beseen, will give strength and stiffness to the structure and still notsacrifice an important and necessary feature of velocipedes--viz.,lightness. The vertical arm on the rear runner-frame is designed toprevent the tipping forward of the ruimer when the same strikes anyunevenness in the surface.

I am aware that it is not new to join the front and rear runners by acurved rod or bar conforming to the shape, and therefore do not claimthis, broadly 5 nor is such the equivalent of my shield rigidly attachedat its center to the joint of the forks, so as to be continually IOObehind in such a manner that the rider is prevented from coming incontact with the wheel when riding straight forward or turning, or evenwhen handling the machine from the ground.

It is obvious that the shield could be secured in any convenient way tothe braces, though it is preferred to gain strength and stability byconnecting its ends to the ends of the runners, as shown; or the shieldmight be used without the lower conneetions-as, for eX- ample, on anordinary bicycle.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A propeller-wheel for ice-veloeipedes, consisting of a hub, throughthc center o1' which is secured an axle, and having screwed into itthe spokes, the other ends of which spokes are riveted alternately onopposite sides of a dat metallic rim, to which are also rivetedinverted-V-shaped teeth, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. In an iee-velocipede, the combination of the toothed wheel andsupporting-frame, substantially as herein described, with a curvedshield supported on said frame and having its extremities secured to themeeting adjacent extremities of the runners, as and for the purpose setforth.

3. The combination, with an ice-velocipedc having a propellerwheel withbearings in vertically-movable blocks E, mounted on rods E E, interposedin the forks, of runners on which said forks rest, whereby the wheel mayreadily pass over any unevenness, as described.

4. In an ice-velocipede,` the combination, with the front forks carryingthe movable bearings consisting of blocks E and nutted rods E', of thebraces E, having their eX- tremities secured by said nutted rods E andbent portions secured to the runners, as shown.

5. The combination, with an ice-velocipcde, of thc runner C, carried byfork C C', which has vertical extension c, the whole pivoted in fork 3,as and for the purpose set forth.

G. The combination of forks l, having interposed vertical rods E E,braces E E, secured by nuts on the ends of said vertical rods, runners BB, shield B, wheel A, having the movable bearing-blocks E, sliding onrods E', and cranks D, with handle 5, Saddle 6, and backbone 2, havingstep 7 and pivoted runner C, all arranged substantially as herein shownand described.

7. A fork for ice-velocipedes, having the arms separated and the partshaving enlargements l, for making connection with the runners by rivetsor screws and to the adjacent end of the arm by nutted rods E E, saidnutted rods being also adapted to secure thc ends of braces, as hereinshown and described.

EDVIN F. BATCHELDER. lVitnesses:

\VM. M. CHAsE, W. J. Davis.

